Importance of religion in one's life among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally by sources of guidance on right and wrong (2014) Switch to: Sources of guidance on right and wrong among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally by importance of religion

% of adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally who say religion is…

Sources of guidance on right and wrongVery importantSomewhat importantNot too importantNot at all importantDon't knowSample size
Religion85%13%1%1%< 1%3,819
Philosophy/reason50%37%8%4%1%827
Common sense46%44%8%2%< 1%4,156
Science42%43%12%3%< 1%517
Don't know68%22%3%3%4%223
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Very important, Somewhat important, Not too important, Not at all important